Fence-post.



G. L. PRESCOTT, F. B. ELLIS & a. JENSEN.

FENCE ros'ri APPLICATION PIE-ED PEB.24, 1908.

972,9128 Patented Oct, 18,1910.

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GEORGE L. PRESCOTT, FRANK R. ELLIS, AND CHRISTIAN JENSEN, OF MILWAUKEE,

WISCONSIN.

FENCE-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented (lot. 18, 1910.

Application filed February 24, 1908. Serial No. 417,478.

Our invention relates to improvements in fence posts.

The object of our invention is to provide a form of post having a maximum rigidity and durability with a minimum cost of construction, regard being had for neatness in appearance and expedition in the installation of the posts.

In the following description reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a rear view of the post showing the same partially broken away. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the joint between the upper section and the base, showing the base in vertical section, drawn on line X-X of Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The base comprises a tubular portion A, below which the material of the post is divided and spread to form divergent flanges B and O, tapered at their lower ends to form the point D, a rounded shoulder being formed at E near the upper end of the flange portion of the base, the shoulder E serving as a stop to limit the downward movement of the tubular upper portion F. This upper portion F is tubular in form, split tubing being preferably employed and filled with a cement filling G. The upper end of the tube F is closed by a metallic plug H which may be welded or brazed into the tube and provided with an ornamental top portion such as the tapered point illustrated.

After the cement has hardened sufiiciently to prevent it from running, a series of apertures f are bored transversely through the tube F and through the cement filling, thus permitting wire fastenings to be inserted through the apertures thus formed in the post.

In setting the post, a collar M is dropped over the top of the post and filled with cement, thus preventing the post from rusting off at the top of the ground, this being the point of most rapid deterioration in ordinary posts owing to the varying degrees of moisture and rapid oxidation.

The cement filling preferably consists of a mixture of ordinary Portland cement and sand but any cementitious material which may be inserted in plastic form and permitted to harden within the post, and which will adhere to the walls of the post thus giving it greater rigidity and preventing rusting on the interior surface, may be employed without departing from the scope of our invention.

The post thus produced is primarily a metallic post, the walls of which must neces- 'sarily have suflicient rigidity to prevent them from springing away from the cement filling, or from spreading when the filling is inserted. These characteristics are possessed by ordinary commercial split tubing, and it will be observed that no bands or other fastenings are required to hold the sides of the tube together, such tubing being therefore more economical and durable than posts armored with sheet metal, and better capable of securing and maintaining an adhesion between the cementitious filling and the metallic portion.

The exterior surface of a post is usually kept painted and the ordinary tubular metallic post deteriorates most rapidly on the interior surface which dries oil more slowly and corrodes more rapidly than the exterior surface, even where the latter is not painted. By using a cementitious filling, however, a comparatively thin and inexpensive metallic wall may be employed both by reason of the resistance of the cement filling to bending strains and the protection which it gives against corrosion.

We are aware that cement or concrete posts have heretofore been constructed with an armor of thin sheet metal bent into the desired shape and arranged with the side margins riveted or otherwise secured together. But the concrete body in such posts constitutes the post proper and offers the principal resistance to lateral or bending strains. In the post here described, however, the metallic tube constitutes the post proper, and since the metallic portion of the post consists of ordinary split tubing, the walls have sufficient rigidity to prevent them from buckling or springing away from the cement body. The tubing used will ordinarily not exceed 1 or 2 inches in interior diameter, and the quantity of concrete filling is relatively small, its volume, in an ordinary post, scarcely exceeding, and in some cases being less, than that of the metal composing the tube. The concrete filling cylinder is therefore too small to ofier any substantial resistance to bending strains, if uninclosed, although it has been found in practice that the same adds greatly to the strength of the metallic post as against such lateral strains and that it also adds but little to the weight of the post. It will be understood, however, that it is extremely importantin a post of this character that the lower end of the tube be socketed in a me tallic base, having sufiicient anchorage to prevent the post from tipping over and also adapted to hold the post securely in an upright position, the lateral strains being greatest at the surface of the ground. In stating that the metallic wall may be comparatively thin and inexpensive, it will be understood that the comparison is drawn with other forms of tubing, the term tube herein used, being employed in the common or commercial sense.

Having thus described our inventionwhat we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, p

1. In a fence post, a metallic member composed of commercial split tubing having a relatively small diameter and reinforced with a filling of non-metallic cementitious material adhering to the walls of said member, and a base provided with a socket in which said tubular member engages and having outwardly extending inner flanges; said tubing having sufiicient rigidity to prevent it from springing away from the filling and destroying the adhesive engagement thereof with the inner surfaces of the metal.

2. A fence post having an integrally formed base provided with a tubular upper end and a pointed lower end and having the intermediate portion expanded to form divergent wings, together with a tubular upper portlon having its lower end socketed 1n the tubular portion of the base, one of said wings being offset inwardly where it merges into the tubular portion and forming a shoulder supporting the lower end of the tubular portion.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE L. PRESCOTT. FRANK R. ELLIS. CHRISTIAN JENSEN.

Witnesses:

LEVERETT C. WHEELER, 0. R. ERWIN. 

